Lectionary Reflection

Mark
4: 26-34

Jesus
said, "The kingdom of God is as if someone would
scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night
and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not
know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk,
then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when
the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle,
because the harvest has come."

He also said, "With what can
we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we
use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown
upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth;
yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest
of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that
the birds of the air can make nests in its shade."

With many such parables he spoke the
word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not
speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything
in private to his disciples.

Reflection
on Mark 4: 27by the Rev Wanda Copeland

and would
sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and
grow, he does not know how.

For an experiment in high school
Biology class, I planted several bean seeds in soil, and watered
them all. In a few days each one of them sprouted. Although
the experiment was meant to show how different plants in the
same family responded to various fertilizers, for me the greatest
wonder was that through no fault or credit of mine the seeds
germinated. From an insignificant, pale, seemingly lifeless
seed came an entire plant that grew two feet tall and produced
seeds of its own. To this day, I still do not know what makes
those seeds grow.

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